This site uses a somewhat recent version of the flash plugin to display it's content. For some reason (most probably that computers are a little dumb), you may need to upgrade your Flash Player.
If you think that this message is wrong, then click here to try to load the site any way. Sorry for the inconvenience. blame it on computers, go ahead and give yours a swift kick or throw it off a tall building, believe me, you'll feel better.
Brie and Mike held their wedding at the boutique resort El Tamarindo, along the Costalegre, 3 hours south of Puerto Vallarta. One of the nicest resorts I’ve seen yet, it has a wonderful balance between nature and luxury. Literally in the middle of nowhere, you might pass it if you blink! I really enjoyed photographing their lovely wedding and getting to know these lovebirds. Just look at those smiles. Congratulations Mike and Brie, you really know how to throw a wedding with style. I was also lucky enough to have my good friend and amazing photographer Mark Callanan along for the ride snapping shots as well.
Mark’s image:
Mark’s image:
I have a soft spot for female djs as I used to dj myself!
Mark’s image:
Yes, that is their guest with his tongue in the chocolate fountain. Hey, he was thirsty!
I feel lucky to do what I do, to have access and a window into the happiest days of people’s lives. It’s a pleasure and a special challenge to document weddings in a creative, original, and artistic way and create images that will serve as reminders and homages to this amazing moment of people’s lives for generations to come. I find each wedding to be special, exciting, romantic, and magical in their own way… it never gets old to me. After I moved to Mexico and met the design and coordination team The Dazzling Details, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. The sheer effort and imagination that they put into every wedding boggled my mind. At every wedding I work on with The Dazzling Details, I find myself behind the scenes at some point saying, ‘You are crazy people! How do you do it??’ (This is my highest compliment of course). From the start, they made a decision not to do the same idea, altar, design, etc. twice. I really respected that stance and have come to look forward to seeing what they create. As if my job of photographing these magical moments couldn’t get any better, enter the Dazzling Details into the equation and I’m one happy photographer.
Here is a collection of images from weddings designed by this extraordinary team….
Suzanne and Joe’s wedding was originally scheduled for a few months later, but Suzanne got pregnant and we all scrambled to fit a new wedding date into our schedules, so they could get married before the little one arrived. I loved the style and look they decided to go with and had a wonderful time documenting Suzanne and Joe, their loving families, and all of the amazing details and fun of their wedding day. My former second shooter of two years Nathan Cordova was in town for another wedding so I lucked out and he came along with me.
Frank and Lauren were engaged for a year and planning for a big southern wedding, until they threw in that towel and decided to tie the knot all by themselves (well, with a few (hundred) zebras, emu, crocs, pumas, turtles, flamingos, and the list goes on…). I think they made the right decision. Here’s what Frank wrote to me after they arrived at Cuixmala, ‘I would describe the vibe as Africa meets Mexico meets Pirates of the Caribbean meets Jurassic Park’. Cuixmala is a 2,000 acre estate, partially operating as a hotel, surrounded by 32,000 acres of biosphere reserve. For a very interesting read on Cuixmala, it’s mission, and it’s owners, click here. It was a tall order to do justice to Frank and Lauren’s fantastical wedding surroundings in just a few hours but I think we did alright.
It’s a little secret of mine (but I’m willing to let you all in on it) that I pretty much know I’m going to have a great time shooting when the groom is the one who handles the communication about their wedding photography. This was definitely the case with Ben and Meghan. I had such a wonderful time with them and a reaaaally fun Trash the Dress session afterward which I’ll do a separate post on.
I was really excited for this wedding because it was in my little pueblito, a small town called Bucerias, 45 minutes north of Puerto Vallarta. Not only did they get married 3 blocks down from my house but they got married in the same villa that my brother and his wife were married in. It’s also right across the street from the house where my brother’s baby was born, and yeah…. I was really excited to be photographing on my turf.
To make matters better, this was a Dazzling Details wedding. You will surely see their unbelievable work in these photos.
I had my brother and amazing awesome photographer/designer Ed Fladung, and my right hand woman, my editor of 3 years turned second shooter Yanen with me shooting as well.
Lacey’s a fitness guru, now filming a show for MTV and a really fun, sweet girl. Jessica is a stunning model, and a truly lovely person, and together they make a perfect match. They have a tv show which they’ve just filmed the last episode for, called Lesbian Love where the two of them speak together about love and relationships. I’ve included a link to the video and a few of their words at the end of this post.
Their beautiful wedding was at Las Caletas, which is at the southern point of Vallarta’s Bay of Banderas and accessible only by boat! The day was coordinated by the awesome Kelley of Adventure Weddings. Here is a taste of their amazing wedding and the Trash the Dress session that followed.
Here is the last episode of their show, which includes some video of their wedding, and a letter that Lacey wrote to their fans. They are an inspiration.
Micah and Amanda’s recipe for the wedding of their dreams
1 Texan boy
1 Cajun girl
Family and great friends to taste
1 gorgeous villa overlooking the ocean
1 amazing Mexican beach
1 gigantic, warm sun
Lots of palm trees The Dazzling Details coordinating, designing, and turning said villa into a classy, fantasy world
Cocktails, cervezas, and a little water here and there
His and hers cowboy boots a must
Every kind of cheesecake you can imagine
1 dance floor to get down on
2 fire dancers and 1 drummer
1 pool to cool off in when the festivities wind down
2 rings
1 best friend to officiate the union
And last but definitely not least, a whole lotta love
QUE RICO!!!!!
We made a slideshow with Amanda and Micah’s faves AND my faves which makes for a whole lot of faves so grab a big glass of something good and enjoy.
Meet Scott and Liz, winners of the Elizabeth Lloyd Save The Date award. No, there was no competition, but they win anyway. I worked with Scott for years photographing Hip-Hop artists under his art direction. It was only fitting that this is his save the date.
Original record cover:
Scott and Liz’s Save The Date:
A few favorites from their beautiful wedding day in Indianapolis!!
WOWOW. Another wedding for the books. One of my favorites to date!
Lauren and Jon are my kind of people. Very creative – She’s a talented clothing designer, he’s a film producer for really cool films, they live in LA, frequently visit New York, and get married in my favorite two-horse, surf, beach town in Mexico. What’s not to like?
I don’t always get the chance to meet my clients before photographing their wedding but Lauren and I happened to be in New York at the same time, and got the chance to have coffee in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. I promptly coveted her necklace, bag, sun-glasses, personality, style, and especially her silk shirt which was one of her own designs, and which she so graciously gave to me on the day of her wedding -what a pleasant surprise that was, the gift that keeps giving!
Jon’s uncle lives in San Pancho (among other places) and owns my favorite restaurant in all of the Bay of Banderas, Mar Plata (it actually ties with Cafe Del Mar which he owns as well), where they had their reception. The wedding was held at his uncle’s villa… I hope you can see how amazing this place is through the photographs. I, along with all of their guests, was completely floored.
Lauren’s dress? She designed it! The most amazing thing about it is that she put a line of velcro just above the knees. It was a big surprise to all of the guests when they did their first dance. Jon stepped on the dress and the bottom half came off! Party time! The bridesmaids’ dresses she designed as well.
The light was perfect, the guests and location were gorgeous, and Mar Plata and their staff pulled off a truly stunning event.
Sergio from the popular Mexican band Zoe DJed which made for great music and a lot of getting down. Everybody went to TOWN in the photobooth so check those out at the end.
Thanks to Kiersten Rowland for second shooting! She’s a great photographer from New York and shoots weddings through my studio in Mexico during the winter. I’m lucky to have her! Another special thanks to my insanely talented brother Ed Fladung for coming through to shoot some details. Due to the schedule Kiersten and I couldn’t get to the reception site before dark.
